Elaine Fortier

How do you stay alive in a cut-throat employment market?  Build an egoless personal brand. This goes beyond being indispensable. Defining your unique value proposition is what sustains your worth over time and sets you apart from your peers.

Your brand should make you unforgettable for what you do and who you are. It's the image that comes to mind instantly when your name is spoken. Oprah, Madonna, Hillary, Sarah...it takes only a heartbeat to describe what characterizes each of them. They are uniquely powerful and dramatically different from each other. Your brand distinguishes you from your peers and your competitors, and it should be as individual as your signature and your fingerprint.

Effective personal branding takes on a special twist in a corporate climate where no position or person is guaranteed a future.

Low-Key Promotion. While flamboyance and a "look-at-me" attitude may be appropriate during economic conditions that force companies to compete for top talent, today's situation calls for an egoless brand that makes your value obvious without being obviously self-promoting. Our friend Selena exemplifies the type of branding that is timeless, egoless, and always in demand. She is a top HR business partner who is known for getting things done. She operates a small, no-frills team that executes its deliverables flawlessly, with minimal resources and no fuss. Her team runs repeatable programs and processes that enable leaders to effectively hire, terminate and pay employees. Selena has her executive partners continuously at and on her side because they know her facts are always correct, and her recommendations will serve the company's best interests under any conditions.

Leadership Presence. Selena's no-nonsense approach is tempered by warmth and grace, and her appearance reflects her style and her personality. She wears understated, beautifully tailored clothing that says, "You can count on me." Never will she unexpectedly find herself in the elevator with a major internal customer or company executive, suddenly embarrassed by her funky, casual-Friday jeans and Juicy hoodie. Her image is impeccable every day in every way, and she will never be caught breaking character.

Assets Make the Difference. Difficult times call for calculated measures. It's time to take a deep breath, focus your energy on the best of what you have to offer, and ask yourself how you can make yourself an invaluable, confident team player. Inventory your assets, and figure out how to leverage them for the highest impact to the company. The entire country has been asked by its new president to find a way to solve our problems together, and to give more for the greater good. This is your time to step out of fear and demonstrate who you are and what you can do at work...above and beyond anything you've done before.

Will any of this guarantee that you don't get laid off? No. But it will greatly increase your chances of being the person your boss fights to keep today and promotes tomorrow.

(c) 2008 Elaine Fortier.  Elaine Fortier is the Director of Non-Technical Recruiting for Yahoo! She has been in leadership development for over 20 years.